Unfinished Business
by simplyme7196
Summary: Set as if Peyton and Lucas never got together in the fourth season, and Peyton never told Lucas she loved him. Not a very happy ending, Leyton, with a side of Jeyton.


**A/N-Just another oneshot. Nothing special, had an idea, ran with it...Please Review!**

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to One Tree Hill.**

In his life, Lucas Scott had never really considered himself a regretful person. Sure, he may have one time or another wished he could take back things that he knew were wrong, like his cheating, and lies that he told. But that never meant that he was regretful as a human being.

Unfortunately, that changed the day he never told Peyton Sawyer he was in love with her.

He received news that Peyton was leaving. Somehow, it didn't seem real that after their long friendship, she could just up and leave.

She had claimed she needed to chase after her dreams, and that she wanted to travel the country and live her life.

No matter if they never declared love for one another, or if their short-lived relationship in junior year was all they had, there was still something.

He guessed there always would be. Some connection, some force, that undeniably pointed them to each other.

Even if neither one of them admitted to it, he spent many nights while she was gone, "_chasing her dreams", _wishing she was there curled up in his arms.

There were many nights when he was lonely, and having trouble writing, when he would taste the sweet softness of her lips on his, even after so many years.

He knew she did too. Before she left, he knew she had been holding back, and restraining her own desires. Longing to be together, in bliss.

But they never did anything about it. They left things as they were, and went along their merry way. Or so they thought.

He always wished something would happen. It may have been cocky for him to think, but he knew she would go to him if he declared love.

It wasn't that he was an ass, he just was that sure of their bond. Their love for each other.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Haley told him he was stupid, and cracked him over the head with her hand, telling him to go after her when she left.

Nathan told him to stop being a jackass and fess up, because keeping things platonic with Peyton never worked.

Skills, Mouth, Junk, and Fergie laughed at him, when he told them he wasn't going to ruin their friendship.

Whitey, living at his house in blissful solitude as a result of his retirement, told him, "Get the hell out of here, and go get you're damn girl!"

His mom told him that waiting such a long time to confess you're feelings would only turn out in pain and misery. She had first-hand experience.

Even Brooke, whom he called in a desperate attempt to clear his head, told him that Peyton was in love with him too, and that he needed to wise up, stop denying the inevitable.

When he went to visit Keith's grave, trying the last person he had, he could have sworn he heard Keith's voice telling him to face his fears, and chase the girl who was chasing her dreams.

But he didn't listen to any of them. He respected them all, but he just couldn't do it.

As he stood outside her front door, nervous as hell the night before she left, the only thing he could do was knock. He wouldn't normally, but he had lost all brain power at this point.

She answered, and he lost his breath.

Peyton was wearing simple clothing, skinny black jeans, and a green ripped t-shirt, but it broke his heart that she looked so damn beautiful right before she left.

It broke his heart as he walked upstairs with her and saw her half-packed, open suitcases, and records in boxes.

It broke his heart when she told him she would miss him and that even if she didn't tell him enough, his friendship mattered more to her than anything.

It broke his heart when in the split second after hugging, their lips came so close he could almost taste her.

It broke her heart when he pulled away.

So they said their cliché and common goodbyes, and then she was gone.

He holed himself up in his room for awhile, until eventually everyone yelled at him enough that it was his own fault, until he started living again.

Lucas figured, if she was doing it, maybe he should too.

XXXXXXXXXXX

Lucas had no idea how all of Peyton's chasing somehow planted her in Savannah, Georgia.

He knew that there had been unfinished business with Jake, but he also figured it was just that. _Unfinished business._ An ending, destined to be left in oblivion.

So when Lucas realized Peyton had touched base in Georgia, undoubtedly with Jake, his heart sank.

He also felt guilty. If only he had mentioned something when she was there, they could've had their chance.

Although, he was not the only one to blame. She never said anything either. But he wasn't resentful. He couldn't be when it came to her.

At first, Lucas thought maybe she would visit him, and they would resolve their problems, and she would come back to him.

At least he hoped she would.

XXXXXXXXXXX

That all changed a few months later, when he received an invitation to celebrate the wedding of Jacob Jagielski and Peyton Sawyer.

At first he declared to himself that he wouldn't go. No, he _couldn't_ go. It would be too hard.

But after much deliberation, and debates with himself, he would go to the wedding, and prepare to see her happy, even if it wasn't with him.

Boy, was he wrong. The mere sight of her walking down the aisle looking beautifully elegant and graceful, he lost all rationale.

The part that hurt the most was that she wasn't walking toward him. That she wasn't smiling with a twinkle in her eye at him. She was smiling like that to Jake.

The reception was torture. There was a dj, a stunning tent, and themes of red strewn everywhere. Such an obvious Peyton-themed wedding.

As Lucas watched them have their first dance, to "_Home"_ by Michael Buble, he laughed. Not only at the cheesiness of the song, but also because he was trying to keep the pain in.

It wasn't until Peyton rested her head on Jake's chest, and Jake wrapped his arms protectively around Peyton's waist, did Lucas start to lose it.

Seeing her close her eyes in seemingly contented happiness, he started to tear up. As the final strains of the song played, and Peyton leaned up to softly lay a sweet kiss on Jake's lips, Lucas let the tears roll down his cheek, not bothering to wipe them away or turn his head.

As much as it hurt, he couldn't turn away. His heart willed him too, but his body made him stay and witness Peyton being given to someone else.

XXXXXXXXXXX

When Peyton came up to him toward the end of the reception, he nervously smiled. He knew that being so close to her looking like that was dangerous to not only himself, but to her.

As her sweet voice thanked him for coming, and mentioned that she had missed him after all these years, he replied he wouldn't have missed it for the world.

So as she slowly reached her arms around his neck to hug him goodbye, he cautiously yet possessively draped his own arms around her waist. He held her as if he never wanted to let her go.

What was even worse was he could take in her amazing scent, smelling simple yet powerful enough to make his knees shake.

He let the tears well up in his eyes. The inescapable tears that he knew she was holding in too.

But as they pulled away, and the contact was broken, he was brought back from his world to the real one.

The world where not everything was perfect, and she wasn't his.

The world where in a few minutes she would be sliding into a limo, off to her destination as the wife of Jake Jagielski, not Lucas Scott.

The world where he berated himself for ever letting her go.

But he did let her go. Again. To live the life she claimed to want. Experience her happiness, even if it was at the expense of his own.

Because he loved her. He was so deeply and honestly in love with her, that he would let her go.

No matter where she was, or who she was with, in his dreams he was the one she came back to. He was the one that she married and gave children, and loved.

In his dreams, they lived happily ever after, and nothing stood in their way.

Because that's what he believed. He would always believe, that no matter what happened, she would always come back to him.

In his world, they had unfinished business.

XXXXXXXXXXX

**So that's it! Sorry there was not a happy ending, but I had an idea of where I wanted this to go, so there it is. Maybe if I get enough reviews, I might write a sequel (hint, hint...lol). So anyway, I hope you liked the story, and please review!**


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